From Anchorage to Ushuaia by Bike

We had planned to only spend one night in Jauja but we ended up staying there three days. Bruno was very welcoming and his hostel was more like a B&B than anything else. He cooked for us and took us to visit the region. We saw Laguna de Paca and the pre-Inca ruins in Tunanmarca. We climbed in the back of his pick-up truck, just like the locals do, and even stopped to pick up a few hitch-hikers on the way.

On Wednesday we biked down the Rio Mantaro which runs between Jauja and Huancayco.  In the fertile valley around the river, the locals grow potatoes (there are more than 3000 varieties of potatoes in Peru), corn, artichokes, and different kinds of herbs. The river is actually very polluted because of the all the mining upstream (lead, arsenic, copper, antimony, zinc). There were studies done recently on the levels of toxicity in La Oroya, the mining town that we passed through about 100 km upstream, and it’s supposed to be one of the top 10 most polluted places in the world. When we had passed through, however, the factory had been shut down because of a labour dispute with the American owner who wouldn’t comply with safety and environmental standards, so we hadn’t really noticed the pollution. Since then, the dispute has intensified, and now the workers and their families are blocking the roads, causing traffic jams that extend for more than 20 km along the major artery between Lima, the mountain, and the jungle. I guess we were lucky to get through there before the protests, even if it would have made for some interesting stories!

Today we’re in Huancayo, regrouping and getting ready to take on the stony roads of the Peruvian hills. Check out the pictures below – they’ll give you an idea of all the ups and downs that await us on our way to Cuzco!

Sébastien